Religion News: Should Pope Pius XII be considered for sainthood?

Weekly religion rail, with items on the controversy over the pope who reigned during World War II, atheists advertising on buses, and more.

Pope Pius XII, born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli, reigned as the 260th pope, from March 2, 1939, until his death in 1958.

According to wire reports, Pope Benedict XVI recently has praised Pius, raising speculation that he is trying to revive the long-delayed beatification for Pius, who has been accused of turning a blind eye to the actions of the Nazis during World War II.

While the then-cardinal Pius warned Catholics that anti-Semitism is incompatible with Christianity and condemned the invasion of Poland as pope, he maintained a “neutral” stance throughout the early ‘40s. Pius has been both praised for helping the Jewish people and criticized for not publicly condemning Nazi violence.

The Vatican has always supported Pope Pius XII, with Benedict XVI praising him as a pope who made every effort to save Jews during the war.

Atheists plan to advertise on side of London buses

The sides of some of London's red buses will soon carry ads asserting there is "probably no God," as nonbelievers fight what they say is the preferential treatment given to religion in Britain.

According to wire reports, organizers plan to put posters on 30 buses, with the slogan, "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

While most London buses carry posters for stores or Hollywood movies, Christian churches and Muslim groups also have bought the ad space.

Survey Says

The latest report (Oct. 23) from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows that, as in previous elections, differences in voting patterns by religion are amplified when church attendance is taken into account.

For example, Barack Obama has made no headway among white evangelical Protestants who attend church at least once a week; just 17 percent of this group supports him. By contrast, 37 percent of white evangelicals who attend services less frequently support Obama.

Good Book?

“The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible” by Scot McKnight

Parakeets make delightful pets. We cage them or clip their wings to keep them where we want them. Scot McKnight contends that many, conservatives and liberals alike, attempt the same thing with the Bible. We all try to tame it.

In “The Blue Parakeet,” McKnight touches the hearts and minds of today’s Christians, this time challenging them to rethink how to read the Bible, not just to puzzle it together into some systematic theology but to see it as a story that we’re summoned to enter and to carry forward in our day.

In his own inimitable style, McKnight sets traditional and liberal Christianity on its ear, leaving readers equipped, encouraged and emboldened to be the people of faith they long to be.

Get to Know …

Gabriele Allegra (Dec. 26, 1907– Jan. 26, 1976) was a Franciscan Friar and scripture scholar. He is best known for performing the first complete translation of the Catholic Bible into the Chinese language. His Studium Biblicum Translation is often considered the Chinese Bible among Catholics. He awaits canonization.

He was born "Giovanni Stefano Allegra" in San Giovanni la Punta in the province of Catania in Sicily, Italy. He entered the Franciscan minor seminary at S. Biagio in Acireale in 1918 and the novitiate in Bronte in 1923. He then studied at the Franciscan International College of St Anthony in Rome as of 1926.

The future course of his life was determined in 1928 when he attend the celebrations of the 6th centenary of another Franciscan, Giovanni di Monte Corvino who had attempted a first translation of the Bible in Beijing in the 14th century. On that day, at the age of 21, Allegra was inspired to translate the Bible into Chinese; a task that took the next 40 years of his life. He was ordained a priest in 1930 and soon thereafter sailed for mainland China.

- Wikipedia.com

The Word

Genizah: A place in a synagogue set aside to store both worn-out and heretical or disgraced Hebrew books or papers. – www.religioustolerance.org